Somehow, the NAMA chairman Frank Daly was induced to make the following minimal and bland statement “I welcome the announcement by the Minister for Finance of the appointment of Oliver Ellingham to the Board of NAMA today. He is well placed to make a valuable contribution to the Board of NAMA”

Sammy Wilson, the Northern Ireland finance minister might not be best pleased that there is no Northern Ireland representation on the full board to replace Peter Stewart, and that he must do with a committee. Oliver’s experience in banking probably makes him akin to Michael Connolly, who was NAMA’s most senior banking man and head of the credit committee.

The IBRC annual report for 2011 says this of Oliver “Oliver Ellingham (55), was appointed to the Board on 14 October 2011. He is a chartered accountant and a former Head of Corporate Finance (Europe) at BNP Paribas and a senior executive within BNP Paribas UK. He currently holds Non-executive directorships in a number of companies including Vislink plc and the Naafi Pension Fund and he is Chairman and owner of Woking Storage Solutions. He previously also held seniormanagement roles within Charterhouse Bank (now part of the HSBC Group) and Robert Fleming (now part of the J P Morgan Group).” Oliver is pictured here on his LinkedIn profile.